Bicycle Austin forum

MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

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Bike/car collision at HEB (Hancock) exit on I-35 frontage road

Around 7pm tonight there was a bike/car collision at the eastern exit of the Hancock HEB where it meets I-35.  I got there (coincidentally) minutes after it happened.  According to the driver, whom I spoke to, he was exiting the HEB parking light in his white Prius on a green light when the cyclist slammed into him at a high rate of speed.  Given that the right side rear part of the car was hit, I assume the cyclist was riding southbound on the service road, but in theory he could have been on the sidewalk (whose crossing is not signaled).  The driver was also slightly injured; I could see his arm bleeding.  He said it was from flying glass.

The cyclist was face down, and moving his legs, but according to the driver, was "in pretty bad shape".  The driver seemed very concerned about the cyclist being hurt.  A witness who'd been driving an older black pickup truck was on the scene, but I didn't talk to him/her.

A police officer barked at me, demanding to know what I was doing there, even though I thought I was more than a reasonable distance away.  I replied that I didn't want to interfere and asked if I were too close, but he again just demanded to know why I was there, so I identified myself as running Bicycle Austin and he said that was fine.  A few minutes later, when he learned from the driver and/or witness that the cyclist had allegedly run the red light, he seemed to delight in telling me, repeatedly, that the collision was the cyclist's fault.

I couldn't find anything in the local news or on APD's website about this.

I've biked through that intersection hundrdeds to thousands of times.  And now that my family is no longer car-free (after 27 years of being car-free myself), I've driven my own white Prius through there many times.  I could imagine myself as either the cyclist or the driver.  Though ironically, even though I was car-free for three decades, I could more easily identify with the driver, because I would *never* fly through a red light at that intersection (or any intersection), and even on a green I check for cars who might fail to yield ROW, though as a driver my biggest fear is hitting a ped or cyclist, even if it's their fault.

rich00

Member

Registered: 2010-01-18

Posts: 166

Re: Bike/car collision at HEB (Hancock) exit on I-35 frontage road

I too have gone through there hundreds of times. It's much more comfortable than using 38th st. I'm usually crossing 35, not on the frontage SB.

Were there any witnesses to confirm that the Prius had the green light?

I know when I cross under 35 there, I always check that a car isn't running the red at high speed. Something I do at all intersections.

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: Bike/car collision at HEB (Hancock) exit on I-35 frontage road

I didn't talk to the witness, so I don't know.  But I think the gloating cop did.

Yes, I'm always going through that intersection by crossing under I-35, not by traveling along the frontage road.  And like you, I always check to make sure drivers aren't running a red light.